Office of the Secretary of Transportation 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Transportation's Office of the Secretary of Transportation (DOT/OST) intends to establish a DOT-wide System of Records under the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) to create and maintain civil rights program records which are not covered by the Government-wide System of Records Notices (SORNs) of the Office of Personnel Management [OPM/GOVT-1] and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC/GOV-1]. OPM/GOVT-1 covers general personnel records pertaining to Federal employees and EEOC/GOV-1 covers equal employment opportunity records pertaining to claims by Federal employees and applicants for Federal employment who allege they have been discriminated against by a Federal agency under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Section 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and the Equal Pay Act. The DOT system, known as the Departmental Office of Civil Rights System (DOCRS), is used to track correspondence, inquiries, complaints, and appeals filed by individuals, small business, or representatives of individuals or small business who believe they have been subjected to prohibited discrimination or retaliation by a DOT Federally-assisted or Federally- conducted program or activity. DOCRS is more thoroughly detailed below and in the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) prepared for the information technology (IT) system that DOT uses for its internal and external civil rights programs. The PIA can be found on the DOT Privacy Web site at https://www.dot.gov/privacy.

This notice announces the availability of funding and requests proposals for the Department of Transportation's National Infrastructure Investments. In addition, this notice announces selection criteria and pre-application and application requirements for the National Infrastructure Investments. On July 1, 2011 the Department of Transportation published an interim notice announcing the availability of funding for the Department of Transportation's National Infrastructure Investments, or ``TIGER Discretionary Grants,'' project selection criteria and pre- application and application requirements for these grants. The interim notice also requested comments on the project selection criteria and pre-application and application requirements. The Department considered the comments that were submitted in accordance with the interim notice and decided to make no substantive revisions to the interim notice based on those comments. However, the Department has decided to make minor revisions to the interim notice, to provide additional information to potential applicants on the project readiness characteristics that the Department considers when evaluating an application (see section I(b) and Appendix C). The Department has also updated the point-of-contact information for program staff that should be contacted with any questions regarding the application process for these grants. On April 15, 2011, the President signed the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations, 2011 (Div. B of the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (Pub. L. 112-010, Apr. 15, 2011)) (``FY 2011 Continuing Appropriations Act''). The FY 2011 Continuing Appropriations Act appropriated $526.944 million to be awarded by the Department of Transportation (``DOT'') for National Infrastructure Investments. This appropriation is similar, but not identical to the appropriation for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or ``TIGER Discretionary Grant'', program authorized and implemented pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the ``Recovery Act''), and the National Infrastructure Investments or ``TIGER II Discretionary Grant'' program under the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2010 (``FY 2010 Appropriations Act''). Because of the similarity in program structure, DOT has referred to the grants for National Infrastructure Investments under the FY 2010 Appropriations Act as ``TIGER II Discretionary Grants''. Given that funds have now been appropriated for these similar programs in three separate statutes, DOT is referring to the grants for National Infrastructure Investments under the FY 2011 Continuing Appropriations Act simply as ``TIGER Discretionary Grants.'' As with the TIGER and TIGER II programs, funds for the FY2011 TIGER program are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area or a region. Through this notice, DOT is soliciting applications for TIGER Discretionary Grants. In the event that this solicitation does not result in the award and obligation of all available funds, DOT may decide to publish an additional solicitation(s).

This final rule delegates various authorities vested in the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) by Executive Order 13526 to originally classify information as SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and to the Assistant Administrator for Security and Hazardous Materials.

On February 16, 2011, Department of Transportation (DOT) published a notice of regulatory review of existing DOT regulations. This review is in accordance with Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' As part of the notice of review, DOT announced it will hold a public meeting to discuss and consider the public's comments. This notice provides information on how to participate in this meeting and opportunities for enhanced public participation in the review and the public meeting. Please note that the deadline for registering to speak at the public meeting has been extended to March 7, 2011.